Mexborough & Swinton Times – Friday 16 October 1891

Narrow Escape

There was another narrow escape of a serious ‘bus incident at Mexborough on Saturday last.

On making the journey to Denaby the driver lost control over his two horses, who dashed wildly along with the waggonette when in High street, and never slackened in their wild career until they pulled up at the Reresby Arms, Denaby Main.

The driver, at a very early stage, lost his reins and sat helpless, holding on to the box. I am told that he is a youth, not capable of managing a couple of horses.

Happily there were no passengers, or the consequences might have been serious, not to say fatal. The miracle is that, as it was, no Iives were lost. All the way down Doncaster road and Sparrow Barracks children fill the roadway, and the vehicular traffic is also considerable. The runaways had a lot of narrow shaves. The waggonette, swaying violently from side to side, grazed the telegraph poles more than once, and how the acute comer at Grey’s bridge was rounded without accident is a mystery. Had it been a little later in the day, and the vehicle full of passengers nothing could have prevented a terrible disaster, for their weight would have given impetus to the rocking and the thing would most certainly have rose over. It is getting positively dangerous to journey in one of these public conveyances.

When say we expect the Mexborough Local Board to put the Hackney Carriage byelaws into operation?